Schwab on Snapchat: Brokerages Find New Target Demographic in Recent College Grads

With graduation season upon us, college seniors are looking forward to beginning life in the “real world.” From beginning new jobs to renting new apartments and managing their own finances, graduating seniors are facing one of the most pivotal times of their lives. Capitalizing on this important transition, brokerage firm Charles Schwab targets the young alumni demographic with its Own Your Tomorrow campaign.

The campaign targets people of all ages and demographics, focusing on the idea of engagement in terms of both our financial and personal lives. Recently, Schwab has leveraged the campaign to encourage recent grads specifically to take control of their financial futures and begin investing. To make headway with this largely overlooked group, Schwab turned to mainstream social media platform, Snapchat. The week of graduation, students on college campuses across the U.S. found a Snapchat geofilter that read “Class of 2017 OWNING IT” along with the Charles Schwab logo in the firm’s blue and white corporate color scheme and personalized with their own school’s name. This type of marketing is effective for Millennials and for the rising Generation Z, as 45% of Snapchat users are aged 18-24, with 50% of male and 77% of female college students snapping daily.

Schwab Snapchat Geofilter

Schwab is also promoting early investing with a banner image on its public site homepage and an Insights article that coaches parents through introducing their children to the investing space. Similarly, a graduation sitelet houses a variety of resources for both college grads and their parents including a Leaving the Nest checklist to help parents prepare their children for managing their finances. The sitelet also offers finance tips for grads, such as live within your means and prepare for the unexpected, and offers answers to common questions relating to student loans and investing. More brokerages should consider offering recent grads information about saving and investing, as the demographic is primed for financial advice in this confusing and uncertain life stage.